Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 7
MARKETS & BUSINESS
Turnover outstrips volume growth
for German polymer producers
German plastics materials producers hit new records in
turnover, production volume and staff levels in 2017.
David Vink reviews the results, as presented by the
industry's trade association, PlasticsEurope Deutschland
P
roduction volume of German
plastics materials producers increased by 3.8% to 19.9m
tonnes in 2017, slightly below 3.8%
volume growth in 2016, PlasticsEurope Deutschland revealed in a
3 May 2018 press briefing in Cologne
attended by Plastics News Europe.
Further 3% growth in volume is expected for 2018.
2017 turnover rose faster than
volume, by 12.1% to €27.1bn, compared with a 0.7% decline in 2016.
Following 1.9% growth in the number of employees in 2016, the number grew yet again in 2017, by 3.5%
to 52,260.
The results were again presented
by the association's chairman Dr Josef
Ertl of Vinnolit, for the last time however. He has now passed the reins to
Dr Michael Zobel of Lanxess, who
was elected as the new chairman at
the 3 May Plastics Europe Deutschland
member companies annual meeting.
Ertl said strong turnover growth
was due to a combination of increased sales and higher prices. Turnover in Germany grew 9.9% to
€10.2bn, compared with a 3.1% decline in 2016, while turnover abroad
rose 13.4% to €16.9bn, against
0.9% growth in 2016.
Ertl spoke of a "challenging environment" and referred to the announcement of a "plastics strategy"
by the EU in mid January. He regrets
this has been often translated in media as "Plastikstrategie" rather than
"Kunststoffstrategie": the word
"Plastik" still has a negative connotation in German and so portrays plastics in a poor light as a representative
of "throw-away society" with its associated marine litter problems. The
EU Commission talked, at the 2018
"Polytalk" conference in Malta at the
end of April, about the new strategy
being aimed at tackling marine litter.
A "Hart aber fair" [Hard but fair]
TV panel discussion on 12 March
2018, seen by Plastics News Europe,
included PlasticsEurope Deutschland
managing director Dr Rüdiger Baunemann and was entitled "An ocean
full of plastic [Plastik] - are our oceans
sinking in our waste?"
Baunemann felt obliged to sharply
criticise derogatory comments about
plastics by Robert Habeck, chairman
of the B90/Green party, as trying to
uphold morality [being a "moral
apostle"] by seeking legislation in
general and in targeting plastics use
as a long-life material in throwaway
items. This was hypercritical, since the
German plastics materials production
JUNE 2018
7
Incoming PlasticsEurope Deutschland chairman
Michael Zobel (left) and outgoing chairman
Josef Ertl (right)
party used single-trip coffee tumblers
at its annual congress, Baunemann
stated. Visibly annoyed, Habeck responded that use of the tumblers at
the congress showed the need for
legislation.
Ertl criticised the proposal by EU
budget commissioner Günther Oettinger for a "plastics tax" as ignoring
the important role plastic products
play in the circular economy and as
end-of-life secondary raw materials.
It would be "complicated and highly
bureaucratic", he added, "with the
consumer paying at the end".
Although the tax was still being
discussed in politics and the media at
the end of May, PlasticsEurope executive director Karl Förster from Brussels
expressed his "private opinion" at the
3 May press briefing that ultimately no
plastics tax will be introduced, rather
that "EU member states may have to
pay a penalty if plastics recycling targets are not met".
Other challenges faced by plastics
material producers with their exposure to international markets include
uncertainties arising from the "Brexit" departure of the UK from the EU
and customs decisions being made
and considered by the US and China,
Ertl said.
He was however optimistic about
opportunities for plastics in lightweight construction, building insulation and especially 3D printing. Here,
he cited a Smithers Rapra report predicting that the value of 3D printing
in the medical industry should grow
from $400m in 2016 to $6bn in
2027.
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Plastics News Europe - June 2018
Contents
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - Cover1
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - Cover2
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - Contents
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 4
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 5
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 6
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 7
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 8
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 9
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 10
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 11
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 12
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 13
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 14
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 15
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 16
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 17
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 18
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 19
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 20
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 21
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 22
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 23
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 24
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 25
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 26
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 27
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 28
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 29
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 30
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 31
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 32
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 33
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 34
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 35
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 36
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 37
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 38
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 39
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 40
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 41
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - 42
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - Cover3
Plastics News Europe - June 2018 - Cover4
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com